Shillong, April 01: The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) sent the representation to the Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma, with regards to the exceedingly and unwarranted hike in electricity bills served to the consumers of the state by the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) and the Proposed tariff hike by MeECL. The Union wishes to highlight few points on the twin issues for your kind and immediate intervention and necessary action.
According to the MeECL summary of the Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) and Tariff proposal for the year 2014-15,the proposed tariff for the year is quite high and ranges from 135% to 500%(Energy and Fixed charge)
The MeECL generation is mostly Hydro base and having an installation capacity of about 300 MW including the newly Commission MLHEP with 90% dependable year(Low rainfall year) for generation as per MeECL.(Official press release)
The generation cost per Kilo Watt Hour (KWH) as per DPR ranges from Rs 1.50p to Rs 2.50p KWH. Hydro power is the cheapest source of energy compared to other sources of power generation.
According to the central policy ,the central shares of MeECL from other power project in the North Eastern region is about 200 MW
The rate of energy per KWH from central pool share ranges from Re. 1 per KWH to Rs 2.90 p per KWH (base on power station) The total energy availability of MeECL is about 500 MW.
The Union’s observation based on the above facts, It can be summarized that the MeECL is still sufficient in its energy requirement.
With our own generation and the central share the average per KWH generation cost of energy if worked out will be only about Rs 2.50p per KWH.
The proposed hike in fixed charge which is 500 % high is unacceptable and is also a clear indication of a lack of innovative policy decision making of the MeECL which is trying to recover its revenue through the fixed charge by not providing any service to the consumers.
In view of the above , the following suggestions are placed before your good office for immediate perusal.
There should be an independent agency to carry out energy audit of power consumed inside the state to ascertained the actual Aggregate Technical and Commercial Loss(AT&C Loss)
It is suggested that the increasing block tariff (IBTs) be implemented for six blocks starting from Rs2.00p per KWH (For the first 100 units)
It may be suggested that due to high cost of living the Government Of Meghalaya should consider subsidizing the energy consumed by its consumer by about 30% to 50%.
The proposed tariff hike should be kept in abeyance in order to ease the burden on the people.
In conclusion, the Union strongly urges upon the Government to act upon the following points to relieve the economic burden of the people of the state from the exorbitant electricity bills served and the proposed tariff hike by MeECL. The representation was sign by the president Daniel Khyriam and the Genenral Secretary Auguster Jyrwa.(SP News)
